


The Woman in Yellow

by Im_a_Jorts_Man



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Eldritch, F/M, blupjeansboogaloo2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-08
Updated: 2019-04-08
Packaged: 2020-01-06 19:31:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18394904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Im_a_Jorts_Man/pseuds/Im_a_Jorts_Man
Summary: Barry and Lup meet in Innsmouth and unbeknownst to him, she has wedding plans.





	The Woman in Yellow

 

Barry arrived at the dock the day before and his reception had been... interesting. The people there had a strange, sickly look about them and they all seemed cold and wary of him. He rationalized that he was a complete stranger after all, and it seemed like a fairly insular place; it must not be comfortable to have new people appear from the sea out of nowhere with a story about how their motor malfunctioned. He wondered if the inhabitants of the city even knew what he meant by a motor; the people, the buildings, and the streets all looked a little behind the times, to say the least. 

 

He had been directed to a hotel and was given a room for free; a good thing since there was no way in the world he would have paid for what he got. The faucets leaked, the walls smelled of rot, and there was a horridly oppressive humidity in the room, enough so that even the sheets felt slightly damp. He thought about going to the front desk and asking for a different room or at least a different set of sheets, but he had already been shown a great amount of charity in getting a free room and all, and on top of that he was too tired to be bothered. He felt absolutely exhausted to the bone after the struggle he went through just to make it to the dock after his engine began to falter. 

 

And then, there he was; awake but only  _ somewhat  _ refreshed after a fitful night of sleep. He sat at a table in the small dining room area of the hotel, and across from him was a beautiful woman that he was sharing coffee with. Well, beautiful from what he could see of her face, obscured by layers of yellow scarves as she was. She had unceremoniously joined him simply by making eye contact from across the room before approaching his table and helping herself to a seat. In his short conversation with her, the only assessment that he could make was that she was mysterious, interesting and… a little bit frightening. There was something sinister behind her charming, saccharin words but, he found himself captivated with her nonetheless. He rattled on about his travels, constantly worried that he sounded like a braggart, but she seemed to egg him on, drawing more and more information about himself out, offering very little of herself. 

 

“I am…  _ so _ , sorry. I just dove into conversation and I realize I never did get your name?”

 

“It’s Lup,” she offered, her voice all at once dark and inviting. “There’s no reason to be sorry, I also forgot to tell you. You just… caught my eye. I wanted to know more about you and I guess I forgot to introduce myself.” She extended a hand to him, also draped with and completely covered by the long yellow scarves she was adorned in. He gently took it into his and she gave the slightest squeeze as a welcome. “We don’t often have visitors here. It is nice to see someone new.” 

 

“Lup,” he repeated the name, letting the letters drag across his lips. He was captivated and the name had already etched itself into his mind. As she withdrew her hand, he found himself desperately wanting to have it back in his. 

 

***

 

After leaving the man whose name she found out to be Barry, Lup rushed down the street to the stairs that led down into the small underground studio where she lived. The ends of her skirts were dragged through the rain and mud that coated the stone street and ended up looking tired and tattered as she gracefully made her way down the stairs. She stood at her door, cautiously looked around her, making sure no one and nothing could see her as she reached under several scarves and pulled her silver chain necklace out from inside her dress, of which at the end was a carefully guarded key. She entered her home and made sure to turn every lock and to move every chain into their discrete hooks before beginning to unravel her many yellow scarves. 

 

As she finished unwrapping herself, she slid off her dress and removed the pins in her hair, causing a cascade of shimmering gold hair to fall down her bare back. She gently patted at the gills along her neck, as if to say sorry to them. She would never get used to the feeling of having them hidden under so many dry layers of cloth, but it was what she had to do if she was ever going to find a proper vessel for her future husband. She walked to the far corner of the room opposite the door and pulled aside a dusty curtain. She carefully climbed into the glowing tank behind the curtain and submerged herself into the brackish liquid with a feeling of great relief. Finally breathing in her preferred method, she was able to think a bit more clearly. The man was obviously already enamored with her; all she had to do was leave him to think of her for the rest of the day, to most likely dream of her on that rain soaked and thundering night while cold and alone in his hotel room, and then she would meet with him again, looking like a yellow beam of light in the middle of the cold grey morning. And he would happily follow her into even the most obvious trap. She still wanted an insurance policy, though. He was the best vessel she had found, exceeding the few other potentials from the past by tenfold. She wanted him, so she was going to have him. 

 

She could hear the rain beating down outside, sounding like dull rocks bouncing through the echoing hallway outside of her door. It would be wet enough that she could maybe wear a bit thinner of a scarf as she went out and be comfortable. There was no way that he was going to be out in the rain and the dark, but she wasn’t about to risk him seeing her uncovered nonetheless. 

 

Stealing out into the night, wearing darker, less conspicuous scarves, she made her way to his boat. Although it was already damaged, from what she understood it wasn’t unfixable, and he only needed some time to work on it. And that just would not do. 

 

***

 

It was still raining lightly, and there was a heavy fog rolling through the streets as Barry made his way to his boat. He had lingered in the lobby of the hotel before setting out, hoping to see the mysterious and alluring woman named Lup again, but to no avail. He couldn’t help but feel a heavy disappointment hanging over him as he walked out to the dock. He had only talked to her once, but he felt such a deep need to see her again, and knowing that he might not sent a shooting pain through his heart. He dreamed of her the night before and it had rattled his emotions and planted her in the center of his mind. He was having a hard time focusing on anything else. All night, he had chased her through thick clouds of fog, and the fog in the street as he walked only made him hopeful to see her, and desperately disappointed when she never appeared like she had in his dreams. 

 

Once he was at the dock, before he could even fully see his boat, he felt that there was something wrong. Upon reaching it, he was proven right; the interior of the boat was absolutely destroyed, torn to bits, the steering wheel gone, wires exposed and snapped, glass shattered -- it was very unlikely that he could fix anything at that point. He didn’t know what he was meant to do. He stood there in shock until he heard a soft voice call out his name. 

 

He knew it was her straight away; he had somehow become so familiar with her voice, as if he had heard it his entire life, singing him to sleep every night.

 

“Barry…” She could practically see his heart melt at the sound of her saying his name as she walked up to where he stood on the dock looking into his boat. He had a hard time knowing how to react. When he finally spoke, his voice was quiet and small. 

 

“I guess I’m not wanted here.”

 

She looked at him with empathy and his heart soared.

 

“Oh Barry, I’m so sorry to see this.  This town can be a little… protective. Many here are not used to or trusting of visitors.”

 

“B-but,” Barry stuttered as he tried to formulate his response. “If they wanted me to leave, I would -- I don’t even know where or how I’m supposed to go now? I couldn’t leave here if I wanted to, I’m just so confused, if they want me gone-” Lup interrupted him. 

 

“Well, obviously someone isn’t happy with you, and everyone knows that you’re at the inn. I’m… afraid for you, Barry.” His eyes watered as he looked at her and heard her voice. Her eyes peeking above the layers of golden yellow scarves -- he never wanted to look at another pair of eyes again.  

 

Lup looked thoughtful before she feigned coming up with an idea just then. 

  
“Oh! I know somewhere that I can keep you safe until we figure out what you can do.” Before he could say anything, she took his hand. She could feel him tremble at her touch; she made him nervous. He was quickly falling for her. Perfect. 

 

As she held his hand, she drew closer to him and touched his face. “I can tell that you’re a kind man, Barry. You didn’t deserve this.” He turned red and was stuck frozen, unable to respond. She tugged on his hand. “Come with me.”  

 

She led him down cramped spaces between crumbling buildings and then down stairs and into dark alleys, and finally to a heavily reinforced door, which she opened with the same key hidden against her chest at the end of a silver chain. He was too infatuated with her, too distracted by the small hand holding his to even wonder why the door was so aggressively reinforced or why she had a key to a strange door at the bottom of a musty underground hallway of stone. 

 

She ushered him inside and locked the heavy door behind them. 

 

In the room, there was nothing but a couple of wooden chairs, a few slanted, decaying desks with lit candles melted onto them, and a large bed with dark wood posts at the corners that reached to the ceiling. Covering the bed was a gold embroidered, deep red comforter with piles of ornate pillows at the head. Above the headboard on the wall, there hung a small lit oil lamp. The light in the room was low and sultry, and didn’t reach far enough to light the furthest corner of the room where the ritualistic stone table and chains sat behind a moth-eaten curtain. 

 

He didn’t even know that he was imprisoned. 

 

“The wood of those chairs is soaked through, please, you must sit on the bed,” she beckoned him.

 

He hesitated before sitting on the bed; it felt wrong to occupy such a personal space of hers. He held her in such high regard and wanted nothing more in the world than to gently and respectfully court her. But of course he was going to do as he was asked; he would already do anything that she asked. 

 

After he sat down on the edge, taking up as little space as possible, she urged him to make himself more comfortable. 

 

“Please, you must settle in. I want to keep you safe until we come up with a plan for you.”

 

He was touched by her concern for him and did as she said, sitting more fully on the bed with his back set against the pillows, his feet out in front of him on the mattress. She approached from the other side of the bed and got on, rustling in her skirts and scarves as she gracefully pulled herself onto the bed and sat next to him, close. She could practically hear his heart about to leap out of his chest. 

 

“I… Lup, I am very grateful that you want to keep me safe, but I don’t wish to invade your privacy or keep you from being comfortable in your own-” she leaned close to him and pressed a finger against his lips to gently shush him. 

 

“Barry. Please let me help you.” Her voice was so soft, her finger even softer against his lips. She could see in his eyes that he was hers, entirely. Not that he needed to be any more bewitched by her; she already had him where she wanted. She could have her brothers and sisters there whenever she felt ready and they would be carving gills into his neck and starting the ritual to allow her soon to be husband to occupy Barry’s body. And she would be on her way to being granted power and life and riches that would wash up from the sea and collect at her feet. But, something was making her want to play around with him a little bit, first. 

 

She settled a small hand against the side of his face and his eyes closed a bit, savoring the feeling. She was enjoying the game of making him fall for her, and she was especially enjoying feeling desirable and having even the smallest bits of physical attention. His eyes fluttered open with her hand calmly stroking across his cheek.

 

“I… I want to see your face.” 

 

And she thought to herself why not. There was nowhere he could go. There was no way that he could hurt or overpower her. She had the advantage in every way and it might be a bit entertaining to see how he would react in that moment compared to how his face would look once he was fully kicked out of his body and housing the infernal presence of her soon to be husband. Under her scarves, she smiled smugly. She already knew what the reaction would be and it could be fun… her form had become fearful as soon as she had grown into an adult. She had spent years learning how to enjoy being the owner of a visage of evil. And she had forced herself not to miss the pure beauty that she had possessed before. After all, what else could be done? 

 

And so, she unwrapped her scarves from her face, slowly, delighting in what was sure to be the complete breaking down of this human in front of her. He watched with held breath, eager to see the face of his brand new love. 

 

As her yellow scarves came undone and fell around and off of her shoulders, her full face was finally visible to him. The sharp teeth, the patches of golden scales on her cheek and the underside of her chin and her shoulders. And of course, the frill-edged gills on either side of her neck. 

 

His eyes opened wide as he looked at her and they traveled across her features, from one part of her face to the other and back again, his pupils drew circles all over her. She waited for his face to turn to one of fear, for him to start screaming, falling apart, going mad. But he just continued to look at her, still processing. 

 

Then, he lifted a hand near her face, hovering by her cheek. He looked into her eyes and asked, “May I?” She wordlessly nodded, confused and curious. He settled his hand softly against her cheek and swiped a gentle thumb over the patch of scales there. His face turned to one of wonder, of captivation. He looked at where his thumb was petting her cheek, and then to her mouth, her lips, her neck, and back to her eyes. 

 

“You’re beautiful.” 

 

Her heart dropped. That was the worst possible thing he could have said to her. 

 

It was the worst thing because she felt a lightness rise within her that she hadn’t felt since she was much younger, when she first realized that she was of a rare beauty, before she had to learn to accept having that ripped away by being a child of Dagon. And this man in front of her that had basically been her prey that she had been hunting over the past few days was the one that made her feel that dizzying lightness. He had taken her breath away. 

 

Still with his hand on her cheek, he timidly and cautiously brushed his thumb along her lips. She looked into his eyes, pleading… she was unsure what was going to happen, but she knew that something  _ could  _ happen. She never thought that in her entire life she would be kissed. She felt sure that that was an impossible thing to happen to her. Or that she would have love or affection of any kind. It was a thought that had to be entirely let go of. 

 

He leaned towards her, eyes hazy and loving, and he waited for her to close the gap between them to make sure that she also wanted to kiss him. 

 

And she did.

 

…

  
She didn’t know what would happen to her if she ran away. But maybe she could have at least  _ some  _ time with him. They ran hand in hand to the bay and continued to run straight into the water. She held either side of his face and, with her mouth on his, allowed him to breathe through her gills. Holding on to each other, they drifted and she swam them towards the other side of the bay. They slowly spiraled through the water and the gossamer layers of her yellow dress flared and waved through the blue green waters like a floodlight piercing through the dark layers of the sea. 


End file.
